Anne of the Thousand Days

1969

Action / Biography / Drama / History

Synopsis

Henry VIII of England discards one wife Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of a young and beautiful woman, Anne Boleyn, whose one-thousand-day reign as Queen of England ends with the loss of her head on the block. Henry weds Ann and soon she gives him a child. The girl, Elizabeth, is a bitter disappointment to Henry, who desperately wants an heir. Anne promises Henry a son "next time," but Henry is doubtful. Shortly thereafter, rumors begin that the King's eye has already wandered. One Jane Seymour is at court for a moment. The Queen has her sent away, but, if Anne will bring Jane back to court, the King promises to sign the Act of Succession to insure that Elizabeth will be Queen.

Henry VIII of England discards one wife Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of a young and beautiful woman, Anne Boleyn, whose one-thousand-day reign as Queen of England ends with the loss of her head on the block. Henry weds Ann and soon she gives him a child. The girl, Elizabeth, is a bitter disappointment to Henry, who desperately wants an heir. Anne promises Henry a son "next time," but Henry is doubtful. Shortly thereafter, rumors begin that the King's eye has already wandered. One Jane Seymour is at court for a moment. The Queen has her sent away, but, if Anne will bring Jane back to court, the King promises to sign the Act of Succession to insure that Elizabeth will be Queen.

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lasttimeisaw7 / 10

A Tudor costume saga diligently sensationalizes the folie-à-deux of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

A Tudor costume saga diligently sensationalizes the folie-à-deux of King Henry VIII (Burton) and Anne Boleyn (Bujold), the queen he falls in and (a thousand days later) out of love with, one vacuously succumbs to his hardened promiscuity and the fixation of begetting a male heir, whereas the another tragically falls victim of her own delusional abuse of power.

Hardly as operatic and opaque as Anthony Harvey's THE LION IN WINTER, the movie doesn't mince words in depicting the outrageous predisposition of Henry VIII, a horny, spoilt, reckless, cold-blooded pig might be quite an apt description if one can pay no heed of lèse-majesté and Mr. Burton's rendition is competent more than somewhat, drumming up his sonorous rhetoric with blistering confidence (he acquired his penultimate Oscar nomination), but overtly and uncompromisingly, he is shy of any trace of compassion in portraying a famous monarch, which may deter even the most devout monarchist to concoct rational excuses to his inexcusable wantonness and callousness, a stratagem doesn't seem to be out of sync with the makeup of the movie's targeted audience.

On the other hand, we have the Canadian Francophile actress Geneviève Bujold in her first English- speaking film, a career-making opportunity which earned her an Oscar nomination, her Anne Boleyn is a much complicated character than Henry VIII, her metamorphosis from a headstrong ingénue to a queenship-coveting hard-liner strikes home through the agglomeration of her implacable gaze and intractable ferocity (she only relents when she becomes love-struck, a tangible human touch never materializes in Henry's front), to a point we feel impelled to rally our antipathy to let her be answerable for the ongoing persecutions (both religiously and maritally), and in fact, there is only one man who has the power to allow all those things to happen, that is how good Ms. Bujold's performance is, not to mention her Tower of London monologue, her resounding delivery is quite an unparalleled showstopper in almost every aspect.

The Greek goddess Irene Papas (although miscast for her ethnic looks), brings about ample poignancy as Queen Catherine of Aragon, and British thespian Anthony Quayle circumspectly treads the board as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a piteous prey of a king's whims but also eloquently registers that vice is never devoid within his consecrated remit, another Oscar-calibre feat shouldn't go unnoticed. But the same merit cannot be related to John Colicos' Thomas Cromwell, a peripheral but important character marred by Colicos' repugnant haughtiness.

Directed by Charles Jarrott with due mettle and moxie, ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS might be a worthy period drama gallantly grappling with unsavory subjects such as adultery, incest and illegitimacy, but in this day and age, its uncritical overtone jars by testing one's moral line in the sand, even Anne's prophetic revenge of a gyneco-sovereign doesn't really pay off in the end of the day.

Reviewed by Dee Mou10 / 10

Well Done!

What an amazing cast. I was on an Irene Papas movie binge when I came across this film. First and foremost, BRAVO to the costume and set designers, who did an exceptional job.

The movie offers a dramatic countdown of Anne Boleyn's short-lived time at court as the royal consort of Henry VIII, with Irene Papas as the (deeply wronged) Queen Katerina of Aragon, Richard Burton as Henry VIII, and Geneviève Bujold as Anne. The supporting cast is equally impressive, especially if you know your old movies (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064030/fullcredits).

The film is tastefully done, where more modern renditions of the story go too far. My film group and I really loved this one. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch it, check it out.

Reviewed by HotToastyRag10 / 10

Wonderful in every aspect

If you don't know the story of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the movie will give you a fair warning in the opening scene. A very upset and conflicted Richard Burton is faced with signing an edict, ordering Anne, Queen of England (a phrase he utters three times for the audience's benefit), to death. Then it goes back in time to the night he first met Anne, played by Genevieve Bujold. Normally, I don't like non-linear movies, but since the opening scene is the only part of the movie that throws off the timeline, I don't mind it. Also, it serves to caution those in the audience who don't know their history. This movie's going to be a heavy drama, and Richard Burton just warned you of the ending.

Anne of the Thousand Days is an incredibly beautiful film. While it was nominated for ten Oscars in 1970, it only won Best Costume Design. Although Richard Burton had some competition in the Best Actor award from his friend Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, I would have awarded the film Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Art Direction with no hesitation. It takes an incredible talent to create a period piece of that time period with such believable sets and costumes that the audience actually starts to think it's a documentary. It sounds silly, but I actually began to believe I wasn't watching Richard and Genevieve. I was really and truly watching Henry and Anne, because of the acting, directing, sets, and costumes. Margaret Furse's costumes are perhaps the most beautiful costumes I've ever seen in a film. It's easy to watch an old movie and think, "Those costumes were borrowed from the set of The Court Jester." These costumes are so unbelievably beautiful, I kept pressing pause so I could admire the detail of the fabric, the patterns, and the accessories. I really don't think I can stress enough how beautiful the outfits are, so you'll just have to watch it to appreciate how realistically it captures the time period.

The director of a film so fantastic in all its elements should be given enormous credit; it's very difficult to pull off an epic like this without it boring the audience, flying high above their heads, or coming across as cheesy. Director Charles Jarrett wasn't even nominated for an Oscar. But at least he won the Golden Globe.

I love when period pieces are well written. When getting your information from a dry history book, it's easy to make the dialogue hard to digest. Screenwriters John Hale, Bridget Boland, and Richard Sokolove wrote an accessible, easy to understand, but still archaically correct script. Their words flow off the actors' tongues easily. It's hard to imagine anyone in that movie taking their costumes off at the end of the day and saying, "Groovy, man!" as they might have in 1969.

And now, the acting. Usually, Henry VIII is depicted as a despicable villain with no redeeming qualities. Not in this version. Richard Burton breathes so much humanity into the role. The audience truly feels how conflicted, betrayed, and passionate he feels in every scene. You might not think he's an unequivocal hero, but he's definitely not a one-dimensional villain. He has three very fleshed out dimensions to his character. Genevieve Bujold is just as complex. She is not a simpering victim; she's conniving, bold, villainous, and torturous in her own way.

This is a wonderful movie, even though it's not particularly uplifting. There's so much to love about it. I've already seen it twice, but you only have to watch it one time to know what I mean.